Tahir Hemphill

As a native New Yorker, Tahir Hemphill came of age in the 1980s, dividing his time between practicing various elements of Hip-hop culture and exploring cyberspace from his basement in Queens with a dial-up modem connected to a Commodore 128 computer. A fundamental affinity between Hip-hop culture and hacking would go on to define the trajectory of his professional and creative life. Starting in middle school, his exposure to curricula that foregrounded engineering-oriented making led him to acquire knowledge, values, and skills at institutions of higher learning, while Hip-hop’s “golden era” shaped his perspectives on popular culture and politics. The theoretical frameworks supporting these two educational influences have been synthesized into his current creative endeavors. Over the past 20 years, as an artist working with technology, Hemphill has been influenced by scientific work that pushes investigation to artistic limits and artistic work that pushes repetition towards the scientific method. This productive tension between art and technology is fueled by his reverence for the scientific method, as well as his irreverent tinkering with it. As a result of his work sitting in the hybrid area between art, technology, social engagement, and interdisciplinary research, Hemphill’s practice investigates the role systems play in the generation of form and the role collaborative knowledge production plays in the resilience of communities.As a native New Yorker, Tahir Hemphill came of age in the 1980s, dividing his time between practicing various elements of Hip-hop culture and exploring cyberspace from his basement in Queens with a dial-up modem connected to a Commodore 128 computer. A fundamental affinity between Hip-hop culture and hacking would go on to define the trajectory of his professional and creative life. Starting in middle school, his exposure to curricula that foregrounded engineering-oriented making led him to acquire knowledge, values, and skills at institutions of higher learning, while Hip-hop’s “golden era” shaped his perspectives on popular culture and politics. The theoretical frameworks supporting these two educational influences have been synthesized into his current creative endeavors. Over the past 20 years, as an artist working with technology, Hemphill has been influenced by scientific work that pushes investigation to artistic limits and artistic work that pushes repetition towards the scientific method. This productive tension between art and technology is fueled by his reverence for the scientific method, as well as his irreverent tinkering with it. As a result of his work sitting in the hybrid area between art, technology, social engagement, and interdisciplinary research, Hemphill’s practice investigates the role systems play in the generation of form and the role collaborative knowledge production plays in the resilience of communities.

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